Saddleback Church to host mental health conference

Feb. 25, 2014

Updated 6:03 p.m.

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In this contributed photo from July 27, 2013, Pastor Rick Warren delivers his first sermon at Saddleback Church since the death of his son, Matthew Warren, on April 5. PHOTO COURTESY SADDLEBACK CHURCH, CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

In this contributed photo from July 27, 2013, Pastor Rick Warren delivers his first sermon at Saddleback Church since the death of his son, Matthew Warren, on April 5. PHOTO COURTESY SADDLEBACK CHURCH, CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

LAKE FOREST – Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren and his wife, Kay Warren, announced plans Tuesday to host a conference on mental health at the church on March 28, about a year after the suicide of their son, who struggled with mental illness.

Bishop Kevin Vann of the Diocese of Orange and the Orange County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness have partnered with Saddleback Church for the event, called the Gathering on Mental Health and the Church.

The daylong public event is intended to encourage individuals living with mental illness, educate their family members, and equip church leaders to provide effective and compassionate care to those with mental illness, the church said.

Since Matthew Warren, 27, died April 5 from a self-inflicted gunshot, his parents have spoken out about the need to care for those suffering from mental illness.

“Any other part of the body, you can have it hurt and there is no shame in it,” said Warren, who founded the Lake Forest-based megachurch in 1980. “If your brain doesn’t work right, why do you have stigma? It’s just another organ in your body.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, in a given year about one in four American adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder, and more than 90 percent of people who kill themselves have such a disorder.

About one in 17 American adults live with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia or major depression, the agency estimates.

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